While the media continues to debate what a second Super Bowl ring will contribute to Peyton Manning’s legacy, Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin wants another Broncos player to earn a Super Bowl ring even more — Wes Welker.

The former Cowboys star was one of the first wide receivers to excel in the NFL primarily because of his bigger frame and physical dominance. His success contributed to NFL teams beginning to favor size and strength in wide receivers more than pure speed. The gradual change made smaller wideouts like Welker more rare to find in the NFL. That takes a kind of bravery because of the hits that get dished out to wideouts, Irvin said.

“You used to have to display what we call courage, going across the middle,” Irvin said. “People say, ‘Michael was fearless.’ I’m not psychotic. Fear roams in my body. Courage is not saying that I did not have fear, courage is saying that you had an ability to overcome fear.”

Welker’s similar refusal to let that kind of fear dictate his play makes him one of Irvin’s favorite wideouts.

“That’s why I want Wes Welker, more than anybody, to win a Super Bowl,” Irvin said. “His story inspires every little kid that feels dejected and rejected.”

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin speaks on The Press Box show on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, at Radio Row in the Sheraton Hotel Times Square in New York City. (Daniel Petty, The Denver Post)

On Richard Sherman
Irvin also had a characteristically strong opinion on Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman, and the general firestorm regarding Sherman’s candid interview after the NFC title game.

“This game is so massive,” Irvin said. “Anytime someone makes a comment we’re ready to jump right on them. But we’ve begged and asked to get closer to the game. When you beg and ask to get closer to the game, to see more, to get inside more, to see what it takes to become the greatest at the level, you can’t be appalled.”

After sealing the game with a deflected pass, Sherman blasted 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree, calling him a “sorry receiver” in a post-game interview. His polarizing comments ignited a discussion about, among other things, race, dignity and sportsmanship. In his playing days, Irvin spoke as much off the season as on. He famously wore a full-length mink coat to a 1996 court hearing, and he was a premier trash talker in his day. But Irvin said that’s just how some NFL alpha dogs are wired.

“It takes that kind of mentality,” Irvin said. “‘How dare you try me?’ (It’s) that who-do-you-think-you-are mentality. We’re catching it right at the height of emotion and then turning it against him. But we asked for this. This man is doing nothing but his job.”

Mike Klis has been with The Denver Post since 1998, after working 13 years with the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. Major League Baseball was Klis' initial passion. He started covering the Colorado Rockies after Coors Field was approved for construction in August 1990.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times. She has reported regularly on the Broncos since joining the staff.

A published author and award-winning journalist, Benjamin Hochman is a sports columnist for The Denver Post. He previously worked on the staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winners of two Pulitzer Prizes for their Hurricane Katrina coverage.